Mother's Son
by squeaky12345
Summary: Kagome tries to help after she learns whats wrong with Inuyasha, leading to her kidnap. Sango is very very ill, Miroku feels that it is his fault, while Shippo fights for his life. InuKag MirSan; chapter 2 onwards is written by RisingxxAngel
1. A Mother's Love

Hi! This is just a **little** Inukagfic I thought of at 3or 4 in the morning, when I couldn't get to sleep.(sorry if it's not to organized) Just a piece of fluff, though it is a bit angsty. I might add some more lil oneshots, but this is it for now. Sorry I haven't added any more to Summer Holiday (or Chihiro's Return, but I did tell you I was taking a break from that- September at the latest I promise) but I got to chapter 4 and got writes block. (again –gulp-) So here's a short one to keep ya tickin' over. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha, but I wouldn't mind having him for my birthday or Christmas! Lol

**Mother's Son **

InuYasha had been sulking all day. It wasn't that Kagome wasn't there – she was, it wasn't even his normally 'grouchy' sulk, he looked more depressed. They'd walked for hours, without coming across a single village, demon or jewel shard, or even a trail from Naraku. It was getting late into the evening, so the gang decided to set up camp in a small clearing of the forest they were trekking through. Kagome looked up at the sky. The stars were out and shining beautifully.

"Wow, aren't the stars bright tonight?" Even for feudal Japan they were brighter than normal.

"So, they are, Lady Kagome." Miroku agreed.

"Mmm," Sango agreed too, dreamily, whilst admiring the sky.

"Yep!" Shippo also agreed.

"Miaow." Said Kirara.

Kagome glanced nervously across at InuYasha, who solemnly had his eyes averted upwards. By the time had noticed her starring, Kagome had looked away. She was worried, but determined to find out was troubling the hanyo.

"We'll need some firewood." She stated, "InuYasha, will you help me look some?" He 'feh'd' in reply, but got up and went with her. Sango and Miroku both worked out what she was up to, for they had also noticed their companion's melancholy.

Kagome walked into the woods, with InuYasha following, behind. She waited until they were at least two-hundred metres away from camp, when she stopped abruptly. InuYasha nearly walked into her and when she turned to face him her eyes were full of concern. InuYasha felt a tug in his chest.

"InuYasha, what's wrong?" She spoke softly, yet he looked at her blankly, so she continued, "You've been acting down all day and we can all tell that something's bothering you." InuYasha let out a sigh. He didn't want to tell. He didn't want to put a dent in his obese ego. But the concern in her eyes made him open up. Kagome hade a way with him that he couldn't quite explain.

"Tomorrow's the anniversary of my mother's death." He was looking directly into her eyes. His golden orbs were reflecting his sadness. Kagome felt a wave of sympathy, but she knew that wasn't what InuYasha wanted, it still didn't stop her from apologizing though.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was losing it's volume with every word she spoke. "Is there anywhere you want to go tomorrow to pay your respects?" She wanted him to know that she cared. InuYasha shook his head and broke eye contact.

"Who would bother to bury a woman who married and demon and gave birth to a half-breed?" He spat the word half-breed out, as if taking the blame, (a horrible burden, don't you think?) Kagome could have sworn she had seen, un-characteristically, his eyes moisten. His melancholy mood was spreading, Kagome never liked to see InuYasha upset, (though was glad he was open with her.)

"Hey." Her voice was no more than a whisper as she put her arms around him in a chaste embrace. InuYasha put his arms around her and looked down at her face, which was beautifully enhanced by the light of the stars. She then spoke, comfortingly, yet firmly, but still softly.

"InuYasha, you were born out of the love your mother and farther had for each other, I think that's wonderful, so don't you EVER blame yourself!" He was touched by her words, he felt his eyes dampen, but refused to let any tears from. She cared for him and he felt like the luckiest person alive. Kagome rested her head on his chest as he tightened their embrace. She let her words sink in.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, holding on to the other, sharing warmth on the cold night. At last Kagome spoke again.

"If there is anything I can do for you tomorrow, just, tell me, O.K?" She wasn't sure what she could do for him, but Kagome was sure she would be there for him.

"Just, be with me." InuYasha knew that was all he needed.

"Always, InuYasha, always."


	2. Kagome's Plan

Kagome walked over to a grass covered hill, and sat down, seemingly waiting for Inuyasha to come over next to her. Her eyes were sagging with tiredness and the whites of her eyes slightly bloodshot. They had been going for days and days at a time on a race to find the last shard.

She slumped, and then let her body slide onto the ground, letting her gaze rest upon the glimmering stars above. Inuyasha looked around for a second, paused, and then moved to lie down next to her. Even for a half-demon, the hurrying about from place to place with only a night's rest and a warm meal had left him exhausted.

Inuyasha and Kagome watched the stars with only slight murmurs and comments escaping their lips. They laid, together, under the heavens above for the rest of the night.

Kagome drifted off into a peaceful sleep next to Inuyasha. He draped his haori around her to keep her warm. Inuyasha scooted himself closer to Kagome, but turned onto his side as so not to face her.

He knew that the time when she'd have to go back forever was drawing near. Nothing was so positive for him anymore. Inuyasha used to be sure that he was going to become a full demon, but after meeting Kagome, he just didn't know.

He cared for her so deeply, perhaps because she accepted him. Something else in his heart told him it was not this alone that made him feel for her. In his mind, he was still fighting the seemingly never-ending battle of what he would do with the jewel, about Kagome, and about time. Even to live for hundreds of years, he had the strange feeling of not having enough time. But, for tonight, it was just Kagome and Kagome alone. She understood him.

Inuyasha tossed for a bit trying to make himself comfortable, eventually ending back up on his back. He looked up at the stars. They were bright tonight, as Kagome had said. They shone brilliantly with twinkling light, illuminating her face. 'Such delicate features,' he thought, softly brushing some of her silky hair off her face. Kagome curled up a little more, clutching the haori closer in her hands.

As long as she was with him tomorrow, that just might be all that he needed. And he too, drifted into sleep.

Inuyasha and Kagome were both still asleep when dawn broke. Inuyasha was on his left shoulder, and Kagome on her back. Kagome was still in a light doze, very warm, and _very_ comfortable. Her body was determined to be as warm as possible, and moved closer to the source of the heat.

Slowly, her body rolled closer to his. Their faces were now opposite, only inches apart. The last bits of sleep crumbling away, Kagome opened her eyes. Next to her was a sleeping hanyou. She smiled contently at her first sight, and then was startled as she became more conscious each second. Kagome sat up hastily, brushing her arm against Inuyasha as she did so. He awoke, and she blushed as his amber eyes opened and he blinked into the morning light. Inuyasha's eyes caught the light and turned the amber fiery.

Inuyasha quickly sat up looking around, a tint of pink rising on his cheeks on realizing just how close he had been to Kagome. They were still on top of the hill, where they had been last night. Kagome smiled a warm, but awkward smile. "Good morning," she muttered, somewhat embarrassedly.

He turned away and muttered a soft reply. They stood up, Kagome returned Inuyasha's haori, and they silently walked back to camp, both too embarrassed to make a sound, much less look at each other.

Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo were still asleep in the tent. About a week ago, Kagome had brought back a big dark green tent that she had bought at a discount store. At first, everyone had just stared at her, asking what it was. When Kagome explained, everyone seemed happy with the idea of for once being able to sleep out of bad weather. Everyone that is, except a certain half-demon, Inuyasha. In the end, after a fight and a few sits, he had unwillingly let the tent be put up. However, he didn't stay in the tent. Most of the time he was up in a tree, though, every night, when he could smell their scents relax and go into a peaceful sleep, (and snoring) he jumped out of the tree and walked inside the tent. He would watch over them, even though none of them knew this. But, every morning, Kagome would wake up and see a hanyou in the corner watching over them, sometimes even sleeping, and she'd smile to herself.

Kagome peeked inside the tent and was thankful that everyone was still asleep. That way, she could safely say that she and Inuyasha had come back to camp after they were all asleep without there being too many awkward questions. Kagome lit a fire in the pit that had been dug, while Inuyasha made himself content by settling himself down into a corner.

"Inuyasha," she asked, "What would you like to eat for breakfast?" He snapped out of his revere.

"Ramen…" was all the reply she got. She looked over at him. He didn't seem to have really considered the question; perhaps it was an answer out of habit, so she checked him on it.

"Ramen? For breakfast? Are you sure about that?" He slowly and silently nodded his head. Then he stood up, and walked out of the tent muttering something about going to take a short walk before breakfast.

Kagome lowered her head back to her backpack for which she drew a pot and some packages of instant ramen. She opened a bottle of water and poured it into the pot. Next she set the pot over the flame.

'I hope Inuyasha's all right…' She thought.

'It is the anniversary of his mother's death… Surely there must be something I could do.'

Her pondering was interrupted by the sound of the water boiling. Carefully, she opened the packages and dropped the ramen into the water and stirred it with a spoon she had brought along. She went back to her thoughts as the ramen cooked.

Then, all of a sudden, an idea came to her. 'Yes, maybe that would help. I hope that will make Inuyasha feel better. Hmm, but I'll need his help on it. I just hope that he'll-'

"Kagome!!! You're back!!!"

Kagome turned around to see a kitsune running toward her. His sensitive demon nose had picked up on the smells of 'breakfast' (haha, if you can call ramen breakfast).

"Oh!" Startled out of her thoughts by the young demon, she had nearly dropped the spoon into the pot. "Good morning, Shippo!" Kagome stirred the ramen again and checked to see if was tender.Seeing as it was ready, she offered some to the young kitsune.

He happily accepted, but asked a bit haughtily, "Ramen, for breakfast? This was Inuyasha's idea, wasn't it?"

She confirmed his theory, and then moved toward the tent's opening.

Kagome walked out of the tent, with the intention of going to find Inuyasha to tell him that breakfast was ready. After walking some time, she found him sitting next to a flowing blue river, silver hair dancing in the wind, his eyes staring into the river with a glazed expression.

His soft, white, demon ears picked up the noises she made as she approached him. She kneeled next to him. Inuyasha made no sign of acknowledgement that Kagome was next to him. He stared on at his reflection in the cool water.

Bravely, Kagome moved her hand toward his, and took it lightly. His amber eyes turned toward her. To Kagome's relief, he didn't withdraw his hand. Instead, he held hers more firmly. In silence they stared on at the water. Kagome broke the quiet after a few moments.

"Inuyasha?..." she started tentatively.

He brought up his gold eyes to meet her brown ones. Her look spoke of concern, and something else. Something he couldn't place. Slowly, he rose to his feet.

"Let's go back" Inuyasha stated in a near whisper.

When they arrived back at camp, they found that Shippo had awoken Sango and Miroku. Miroku had a bright red hand mark on his cheek, meaning that he had given Sango her first groping of the day.

The fox, demon slayer, and monk had eaten most of the ramen. Even Kirara had some ramen in a plastic bowl that Kagome had brought from her era. The cat was lapping up the broth that Sango had given her, catching the occasional noodle. Next to her was a bowl of water, filled with clean glacial spring water, or so it had said on the bottle's label. Kagome put some more water onto boil and brought out another two packages of ramen for her and Inuyasha to eat.

Soon after, Kagome got up and took Sango outside. After walking a safe distance from the camp, so that the demons' hearing wouldn't pick up on their conversation, she began.

"Sango, you have noticed how Inuyasha has been acting strangely over the past couple days, correct?"

"Yes," the demon slayer replied.

Kagome then explained a small bit of why Inuyasha was so depressed. She left out most of the details of what had happened, not wanting questions to arise.

"Sango?"

"Yes, Kagome?"

"I think it'd be best, well, if we took a break from shard hunting."

On seeing Sango taken aback by this, Kagome explained a little more fully.

"No, no, just for a day. I have a small plan that will most likely take the rest of the day. I should be back a little after nightfall." Sango's eyebrows were raised, but Kagome did not give an explanation.

"Would you mind if you, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo stayed back at the camp? I think it might be easier if it were just me and Inuyasha." Sango pondered this for a few seconds. What could her friend be planning?

"Of course not," her friend replied with a smile, "as long as the monk doesn't try to pull anything." Her smile broadened.

Kagome laughed, a smile also appearing on her face.

"Now, that, I can't promise you." And the girls laughed together.

As soon as the two women returned to camp, Kagome said that she needed to get a few things from her time. Inuyasha looked at her.

"You just went 5 days ago! Can't it wait?!" He sounded worried that he thought this was another three day excursion.

"No. I should be back in 10 minutes." She replied plainly with a slight frown on her face. This eased his fears a little, but then it aroused curiosity. What was she getting?

Inuyasha followed her to the well and was about to go in first when…

"Sit."

WHAM!

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!!"

"You need to stay behind this time. Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

Kagome jumped into the well. A blue flash of light clouded Inuyasha's sight, so he could not see her. He muttered something about 'feh' and 'what could I need her for' and 'I'm not worried…" But none the less, he seated himself with his back against the well.

Kagome rushed into her room. Her room was just how she had left it, though her mother had taken the empty ramen cups away (a sure sign that Inuyasha had been there.) Apparently, nobody was at home.

She ran about the room in a hasty manner. Kagome didn't bother even changing into a clean school uniform. Looking down at herself, she realized what a mess she was. Her uniform was torn and muddied, her shoes ragged and torn. She was definitely the worse for the wear. But she wasn't like this all the time. The Inuyasha group just hadn't had time to stop by a hot spring in a few days. So she hadn't been able to wash her clothes or bathe herself.

Kagome glanced down at her shoes. She sighed. All that traveling had really put miles on those shoes. She decided that on her next time back, she would buy some more. Walking over to her dresser, she brushed her hair several times in a futile attempt to smooth it.

Next, she grabbed up a small bag and hurried over to her desk. If she didn't hurry, Inuyasha would go ahead and jump through the well if she went a second over 10 minutes. From her desk, she collected some items, stuffed them into her bag, and then hurried back outside to the well. Carefully she jumped down into it.

Inuyasha had been strongly considering the thought of going in after her anyway. Who cared if he got a couple 'sits'? Her time was so dangerous, with those things called 'cars'. Also, he wasn't the patient I'll-wait-for-you kind of guy. Just about as he was getting ready to stand up, a blue light shone from the well and Kagome jumped out.

Kagome was silent for a few moments. Moving closer to where he stood, she stared fixatedly at the ground and whispered nearly without sound, "I'd like to see the place where you grew up."

Though his demon ears had no problem hearing what she said.

End Chapter


	3. AN

Dear Readers  
This is RisingXXAngel, the person who's been really slow on writing the next chapter. I am so exceedingly sorry for not having the next chapter up. I've been so busy lately and I'm so sorry. Most of my teachers are OC, but enough about me. Right now, I have about a 1/3 of the chapter done. If you would like to go ahead and have me post the 1/3 I have done, then either PM me or review the story (I check regularly). Yes if you want me to. No if you don't and want me to finish the chapter first. I may get some more done in the next few days, so don't worry! If no, I should have the chapter done in a few more days if everything goes well. )  
Lindsey (aka RisingXXAngel)


	4. Sleep and a Failed Escape

Inuyasha was stunned. He hadn't expected this.

"W-Why?" He stuttered.

Kagome remained silent. Then some words quietly escaped her lips. "Please… Inuyasha…"

His eyes were wide with surprise, moving none, focusing on her face, filled with something like sadness. Her eyes pleaded to him. He didn't know what to say. Looking more deeply into her brown eyes, he made his decision.

"Okay…. Well… get on."

Slowly and gently Kagome got onto Inuyasha's back in her usual place, braced her knees carefully against his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck laying her head on his shoulder. Warmth spread through him, and he could feel her breathing lightly onto his shoulder. Her scent filled his nose, the unique smell of her soft skin. He blushed slightly, her head being so close to his, but Kagome wouldn't know this. Her eyes were closed peacefully. Gently, he held her legs closer to him, making sure that he didn't lose grasp of them. They set off into the warm summer afternoon.

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After Kagome and Inuyasha had left the camp, Sango told Shippo and Miroku that they would be back later. Shippo asked what was going on, and Sango replied that she knew no more than he did.

Miroku moved toward the tent door.

"Where are you going?" asked Sango.

"I think I'll go to the nearest village. You know, to have a look around, see if they need any exorcisms." Miroku stated elusively. But Sango knew what 'going to the village' meant for the monk when he went alone.

Sango smiled brightly, "Oh! That sounds like a fantastic idea. I think I'll come with you. You know, to help." As she said this, Miroku saw something in her eyes. Something that said 'Try your little plan and I'll see to it you never have children'.

Miroku instantly pictured Sango drawing her hidden knife and walking towards him. He swallowed hard. He decided to try the act of a gentlemen and see if that would work, though the odds were against him.

"My dear Sango, don't worry. I'm sure I'll be fine on my own. Do not trouble yourself to help me."

"It's no trouble! Also, we can talk to people to see if they've heard anything about Naraku. I wouldn't mind getting a cup of sake while I'm there either.

Miroku bit his lip. She wasn't going to take no for answer. He decided to use another tactic.

"What about dear Shippo? What about it Shippo, wouldn't you be lonely? Wouldn't you much rather have Sango stay here and play with you?"

"No, I'll be fine all by myself! You guys go on. I'll stay here with Kirara!"

Miroku almost glared at the small kitsune for not helping in his time of need. His silent pleas for help were obviously too quiet for the fox to notice.

"Are you positive?" Miroku asked with his teeth clenched together, sending silent signals, hoping that the fox would realize what he wanted.

"Oh yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine by myself!" Shippo grinned, wanting to seem grown up. Alas, he had yet again missed Miroku's subtle pleas.

"Alright! Let's go then!" Sango said brightly, an almost malicious smile appearing on her face.

Sango was the first one out of the tent. She silently celebrated her triumph. Miroku soon joined her and they headed down the hill toward the village.

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The trip so far had been rather silent, each too involved in their thoughts. Kagome's mind was worried that Inuyasha might be angry with her, if he minded going to his village, she cared for him, and was worried that his village would bring bad memories.

Inuyasha's mind was focused on a similar subject. 'Why does she want to see my old village? All that is left are ruins and bad memories. What does she have planned? She already knows that my mother wasn't buried. They just disposed of her body. Burned it. They didn't give a shit what happened to her. They were _happy_ to see her dead. They thought she was worthless. A woman who married a demon and none the less, had borne a _half_ demon.'

Kagome drifted off into a light doze on Inuyasha's back. She had been too warm and comfortable. Inuyasha let her stay that way. She simply looked too peaceful. Her face was relaxed into a small smile and her breathing was regular. A few strands of her hair had fallen onto her face and were lifted up and down by the breaths she took and exhaled.

The terrain did not vary much. They went through open meadows of green grass, and through pastures with trees, occasionally passing around a village. They did not go through the clusters of huts, for if Inuyasha did, the villagers would think that he had captured the strangely dressed miko.

It was late afternoon when they arrived to the ruins of his old village. The whole trip had been about 40 kilometers (that's about 25 miles to us Americans). It hadn't been a long trip, only about an hour or so. Kagome was still dozing, so Inuyasha nudged her gently to awake her. She didn't stir. Inuyasha nudged her again. Apparently her doze had turned into a sleep. He moved her from his back to where he was holding her in his arms and said, "Common Kagome. We're here."

She smiled in her sleep.

He set her down on the ground.

'Damn!' He thought. 'She's one heavy sleeper.'

Kagome felt something nudging her.

_Poke poke poke._

The pokes came in sets of threes. She ignored it and tried to sleep.

_Poke poke poke_.

"Ughhhh… stop ittttt. Just one more minute…" she mumbled still half asleep. She tried to roll over in her sleep.

Inuyasha was starting to get impatient. He lacked that virtue.

Carefully, Inuyasha set Kagome down on the ground. She was one heavy sleeper. 'What in the hell can I do to get this girl to wake up?! It was her idea anywa-' His thoughts were broken by a sudden idea. He smirked.

Slowly, he moved closer to her face. Closer and closer he got…

Kagome woke with a start. Her face was… wet? Strangely, it was just one spot on her cheek, a strip of wetness. She sat up to observe her surroundings.

The last thing she could remember was riding on Inuyasha's back. Then she remembered having eventually closed her eyes tiredly.

Recently, they had been extra busy on the search for the jewel shards, so they hadn't rested much. Being so comfortable, she had let sleep take her over. Quickly she looked around for Inuyasha, hoping something hadn't happened to him. Kagome let out a sigh of relief as she saw him a bit to the side of her. He was… smirking? And… and his tongue was stuck a little out of his mouth. She felt the wet spot on her face. Then she looked back up at Inuyasha

_Feel._

_Look._

_Feel._

_Look._

INUYASHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The yell rang throughout the nearby forest and made some birds take off in flight.

"SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kagome was angry. Surely he could've thought of some other way to wake her up! She crossed her arms and turned her back to the hanyou who was currently in a pit.

All the breath she had left her at the sight before her.

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Sango and Miroku walked down the hill, keeping a somewhat steady conversation. They talked about Kagome and Inuyasha, wondering where in the world they had gotten to.

"What could they possibly be doing," Sango wondered aloud.

"Well," Miroku started slyly, "I know what they could be doing that would cheer Inuyasha up-"

WHAM!! Sango's hiraikotsu collided with Miroku's head. The monk staggered, and almost fell. He put a hand to his head feeling the large lump which had formed. For a few moments he staggered along dizzily.

"Well that's what you get for-"

Her sentence was interrupted by Miroku stumbling along, tripping, then falling on his face. Sango's anger was ebbing away every moment as laughter rose into her voice.

Soon they reached the village with Sango helping Miroku up several times. When they reached the village, Sango dragged Miroku to the line of outside shops selling many items. Apparently the village they were nearby was not all that small. Many people were calling to them to approach their shops. The road was crowded with many, many people.

Sango spotted a weapon shop and hurried off to look at it. There were some katanas that looked quite well made and caught her eye. She wouldn't mind getting a few things repaired, or perhaps just a few new weapons. Technology these days was improving…

Ignoring Miroku, she worked her way through the crowd to the shop.

However, Miroku saw this as his chance and quietly but quickly squeezed through the crowd. Eventually, he blended in, and was lost from sight.

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Shippo sucked on a chocolate Pocky stick that he had gotten out of Kagome's backpack. Kirara was curled up into a little furry ball in a corner of the tent. Shippo was just bored out of his mind. So he decided to try to wake Kirara up.

"Hey Kirara, wanna play?"

The demon cat opened one eye, and closed it again.

"I said, 'do you want to play with me?'"

This time, the cat swiped at Shippo with a claw. Shippo got the message.

Shippo dejectedly felt his face which now had three red lines. No blood came, but it was still there, and stinging. He had forgotten how touchy Kirara could get. And although she was a demon, Kirara was also a cat, and cats did **not** like to be woken up from their naps.

Slowly and sadly the kitsune walked out of the tent into the forest.

"Well, what should I do first?" Shippo asked to himself aloud.

"I do have my foxfire… but I don't really feel like training…"

He looked himself over. 'Small…' was what first came to his mind. He quickly pushed it away. He could take care of himself no matter what size he was. Then he remembered that he had left his pouch of toys on the night before.

"Well, I might as well go exploring!"

Out came his toy horse. After a puff of smoke, he hopped on. Into the forest he rode, weaving his way through the trees.

Shippo started to get bored after a while, so he decided to start singing a song that Kagome had taught him. But, he modified the words.

"99 Inuyashas on a wall, 99 Inuyashas" He started singing softly to himself.

"Sit one down, into the ground, 98 Inuyashas on a wall!" He laughed at his own playful joke.

Lately Shippo had been feeling a bit pressured by Inuyasha's strength to get training. His whole technique had improved a lot. Occasionally, after Shippo defeated his first demon, Inuyasha would pitch in and give a few pointers, though not at all in a kind way.

_Flashback_

"What do you think you're doing kid?!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I'm TRAINING!" Shippo snapped back.

"NO NO NO! You're doing it all wrong!"

Inuyasha picked up one of the toys. At first Shippo was about to stop him, but then on a second thought, he let Inuyasha go ahead.

THWAM!

Inuyasha found himself pinned to the ground by a statue with a sealing piece of parchment on it.

"Still think I'm doing it all wrong?" Shippo smirked, then walked off.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING RUNT?!" But the fox pretended to not hear him, and smirked evilly at the thought of Inuyasha being stuck there for the rest of the night.

_End of Flashback_

Shippo had been busy reminiscing over that memory, when his wooden horse stopped. He looked down at the horse, wondering why it had stopped without his command. Then he looked up.

His eyes flew open with fright at the demon in front of him.

End of Chapter

Hope you like it, as always. You get a pocky stick if you review! (I think they're good. Chocolate covered [or other flavors biscuit sticks in a way.)

RisingXXAngel


	5. Ink

(a/n)

I do not own Inuyasha, and I'm sure Squeaky would love to own him, but neither of us do. All the characters, except for Tora, (so far) are Rumiko Takahashi-sensei's lol. It'd be lovely to own all of them though lol.

**BIG IMPORTANT THINGY BEFORE YOU READ!!!!!!!!!!**

Alright, now, I am a manga reader, and watched like 10 episodes of Inuyasha, and 2 movies. Well, the following parts are what I know from the manga. In the third movie, Inuyasha's mother was a princess. (Btw, Rumiko Takahashi never wrote the storyline for some of the episodes and none of the movies, the movie scripts are what other people wrote.) So therefore, in this story (according to the manga), here's what we will know about Inuyasha's mother and father.

Inuyasha's mother took Inuyasha after Inuyasha's father died. Technically, we don't even know her name.

Inuyasha's father was a full demon who fell in love with Inuyasha's mother, had a child, (I don't know the exact timeline of Inuyasha being born and his father dying, it may be vice versa) and died of (oh what is that demon's name?!) wounds from what's-his-name, which Inuyasha eventually defeats.

HERE'S THE STORY! (Finally P, hope it's worth the wait.)

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Before Kagome's eyes stood destruction. The village was rather small, but nothing was left to it. It was all ruins. Huts were piles of burnt wood and falling frames. Shops were ashes.

It was obvious that this destruction was not recent. Not a soul was in sight. Not a sound was heard. The grass blowing in the wind was the only thing that moved. Kagome was lost for words.

Inuyasha approached her from behind.

"Welcome to my village," he said dryly.

Kagome's eyes began to moisten from the intensity of everything. She couldn't quite understand why this was affecting her so much. She had seen so many villages wrecked by demons before this. Why now? Why did this tear her up inside so much?

Kagome knees trembled below her, and she almost sunk down onto the soft green grass.

Even for all the villages she had ever seen, all the demolished ones with bodies scattered across the ground, something about this sight was 100 fold worse than all of that. Skulls and bones lay everywhere. There was no one she could help. Everything was done. She couldn't heal or protect anybody. The time for that was long pass. The damage was permanent.

"Oh Inuyasha…" she whispered.

"Don't get yourself so worked up over it. This happened over 5 years ago. Correction… make that 55 years ago." Inuyasha started his way down to the village leading Kagome.

Kagome shakily tried to walk, and found herself stumbling. She tripped and almost fell, but Inuyasha caught her.

"We don't have to do this. We can go back."

"I'm sure of this Inuyasha." She replied with a gracious smile.

Her smile convinced him that she was sure. It wasn't a smile that lied trying to tell him one thing when she meant another; she really wanted to do this. Inuyasha was still clueless as to why.

They continued their way down to the village. The grass began to fade out with every step. Dirt and ashes soon overtook them. Closer and closer the village became, as did the pronounced demolishment. The bones were damaged and yellowed by time, half buried in the dirt and mud. At a closer look, you could see just how much time and weathering had taken affect on the village. The burnt chunks of wood were swollen and damp with rain that seemed to have come just that morning. There were little puddles of water everywhere.

"The village was attacked by hundreds of demons. Slaughtered everything in sight. If any survived, they didn't for much longer. A fire burned it to the ground, or so I was told."

'Sadly, my memories didn't burn with this place.' He added in his mind.

As they walked deeper into the village, the silence was thicker. Inuyasha's eyes became glazed as he remembered his past. Painful flashes of memories filled his mind. Kagome's mouth was partially open and her heart was filled with sadness. All she could do was wonder if this hurt Inuyasha.

On the far outskirts of the village, Inuyasha slowed his pace. There were no piles of wood for a while, and the damage seemed to be over. They kept walking for a few minutes until they came upon a little hut that was still in tact, but in shambles. It had apparently not been touched by the flames that had destroyed the village.

"What is this hut all the way out here for?" Kagome asked with puzzlement written on her face.

"It was my home." Inuyasha replied.

------------------------

Sango stormed off back into the crowd. That much for one stupid katana?! That blacksmith was out of his mind.

Sango looked around. Where was Miroku?

"Miroku!!!" She yelled out into the crowd.

It was a superfluous attempt. There were too many people. Her voice was instantly lost through all the hustle and bustle of the shoppers.

"Miroku!!" She tried yet again.

Where could he be? It was impossible to know. Then Sango's worry turned into anger. That womanizer!! You couldn't leave him alone for two minutes.

"MIROKU!!!!" Her calls of worry and search turned into yells of anger.

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the crowd, out of the lines of shops, and started to scour the village. Her anger toward the houshi fueled her until she found him.

In the middle of a street she saw him, the treacherous lecher. Next to him was a pretty young woman wearing a sky blue yukata ( a summer, lighter kimono) with white dark blue wave-like patterns washing at the hem. The monk took her hand in his, and Sango knew what he was asking her, even though she was too far to actually hear him speak those words which were dreadful to her.

This was too much. She had known that this was his original purpose for coming down to this village, but she was sick of this. Sick and tired of his ways. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes.

The monk turned around at the sound of a throat clearing. He couldn't catch the sight of her face, but he knew who it was. All he could see was the back of a yukata and tiny drops on the dry dust following behind her.

"Sango!" He called to the demon slayer's back.

"SANGO!" She kept running.

Quickly he left the woman where she stood, although she had not yet given her answer. He tried to follow Sango, but she was much faster than he, and the lecher was left to wander and try to find the one he truly cared about. This was all the success he deserved for going down to the village with his one intention.

-------------------------

A human-like figure covered in fur, eyes forming into red slits, seemingly in a half transformation, was in front of Shippo.

It was turning from twilight to darkness quickly, and the moon was becoming visible more and more each second. Then it clicked.

A demon werewolf.

Demon werewolves were exceptionally rare, and exceptionally deadly.

A demon werewolf was a strange mix. The victim had to be a half-demon or less, for if they were youkai and bitten, it'd be pointless. Their body would filter out the poison within days and the wound would hardly matter. Regular humans could be bit, but they would just turn into regular werewolves every full moon. If a hanyou was bitten, every full moon, he would become a werewolf, but it also brought out the demon blood inside their veins. Doing this in so would wear out their bodies faster, and they would not live to see past 10 full moons.

Even though Shippo was a full demon, and it wouldn't affect him if he got bit, he still might die from the wound itself. He was out here, all alone, no one that could help him if he got hurt.

While all these thoughts were running through Shippo's head, the hanyou in front of him was becoming bigger and more muscular, fur covering him everywhere, and his eyes solid red. The transformation seemed to be agony, for he cried out every few seconds, as if trying to let the pain escape with his yells.

The first thing that Shippo thought of was to yell for help. Then he remembered something…

_Flashback_

"_KAGOME!!! INUYASHA!!!! MIROKU!! SANGO!!!" The kitsune's cries for help rang throughout the forest into the campgrounds._

_Everyone, including Kirara, ran to see what the matter was._

_Facing Shippo was a large, lizard-like demon with long fangs. Its snout was long and like an alligator, and walked on short stubby legs. The demon had a long, spiked tail which looked somewhat menacing, but looked weak enough to defeat rather easily._

"_Feh, I don't even need Tetsusaiga for this job."_

_Inuyasha raised his claws and swiped at the demon, almost lazily. The remains of the alligator demon were mincemeat_

"_Is that all you needed runt?"_

_Inuyasha wiped his bloodied claws off lazily on the grass._

"_I'm so sorry guys! He just… It's just that… he startled me! And… and… I'm REALLY sorry!!!"_

"_Awww, it's alright Shippo. Come here." Kagome let the red fox jump into her arms and she held him close while he was shaking._

"_So you're letting the pipsqueak off?"_

"_He did nothing wrong!"_

_And an argument began between the two. Shippo jumped out of Kagome's arms and the three remaining walked back to camp while the argument between Kagome and the half demon began to heat up._

_When they reached the camp, Sango went off to get a drink of water from the stream. Miroku soon called Shippo over to him._

"_Shippo, you're getting older now, and I think that perhaps you should train more."  
_

"_Why?" Shippo didn't quite get why Miroku was saying this.  
_

"_Well, there might be a time when none of us are here to help you. Times are getting harder and everyone needs to be prepared for the worst."_

_End of Flashback_

Shippo knew what he needed to do. This was one of those times Miroku talked about. He was going to do this by himself.

"FOXFIRE!"

-------------------------

Sango ran until she knew she was far away from that bastard. She couldn't stand him. The tears did not last long and soon she found herself in an inn.

"One sake," she muttered to the innkeeper.

The inside of inn was dark and cool, not lit brightly. The place had a musty smell to it, and she knew this wasn't top-notch, but it'd have to do. This was far enough away from _him_. Sango couldn't even say the name; her wrath was still in full gear. She sat herself at a two-person table and kicked the other cushion away with great force.

A lady in a bright red kimono brought her the tiny sake cup and walked away. Sango immediately drank the whole amount in just one gulp. She let the sweet liquor trickled down her throat.

'Ahhhh…" she thought. 'This is sweet relief. I haven't had this in a while.'

She called to the woman in the kimono over and ordered another cup. When the next cup came, it was brought with a bottle pourer filled with the rice wine, and… another cup? Sango stared at the woman confusedly.

"I didn't order the bottle; or a third cup."

"Yes ma'am. But, see that handsome man over there? He bought you the bottle and offered to pay your tab."

Sango looked to where the woman pointed and saw indeed, as she had said, a very handsome man. He had longish black hair tied back into a low ponytail and wide light blue eyes. He was wearing a yukata of pale green with white borders. The stranger smiled at Sango and toasted her with his small sake cup and drank emptied the cup in his mouth. Something about those eyes captivated her. There were not many with eyes that color.

Now, Sango was no stranger to this kind of attention. Sango was very pretty, and attracted some men herself. Every now and then those men would try to appeal to her, and she'd lightly, but kindly shrug them off. She was about to do the same to this man, when an image of Miroku and that woman filled her head. She thought for a second, and realized that this might give her some kind of pleasure, and he looked kind. So she gestured him to come over and sit with her. But she did find it quite presumptuous that he had asked for a cup for him to be brought.

He stood up from his cushion and moved toward her little table. Picking up the cushion she had kicked away, he kneeled down opposite her and introduced himself.

"Hello. My name is Tora." He bowed his head as much as where he was allowed, and waited for her reply.

Sango returned the bow, and replied, "Hello Tora-san. My name is Sango."

She poured him a sake cup and moved it closer to him.

"Arigato" He said graciously and drank from the cup.

A steady conversation soon commenced between them. Sango learned that he came from the western lands after his sister and younger brother were killed by demons.

"I feel your pain. I recently lost a brother…" Her voice trailed off. It was still painful to think that Kohaku was still out there, and still, 'alive'…

He reached for her hand, and had only a second of her touch before she moved away and said she needed fresh air.

----------------------

Miroku wandered around the village. It was so huge! Where in the world could she have gone?!

He slumped against the side of a building and sat down. Why couldn't he stop being perverted?!

'Well,' his conscience popped up inside his thoughts, 'that's an easy one.'

'Oh shut up. I really don't need you right now.'

In the far distance of the empty street, he saw a woman figure step out of a shop. She stumbled, and then was sick in the dirt. Miroku grimaced. It was almost dark, so it was near impossible for Miroku to see the woman's face. He didn't care right now. All he cared about was finding Sango. For once, he didn't feel the need to ask her to bear his child.

As the woman went back inside, he remembered something.

_Flashback_

"_It's no trouble! Also, we can talk to people to see if they've heard anything about Naraku. I wouldn't mind getting a cup of sake while I'm there either._

_End flashback_

"A cup… of… sake…" He murmured to himself.

Then it clicked.

He smacked his forehead.

'Sango!'

He ran as fast as he could to where he had seen the woman re enter what he now realized, was an inn.

-----------------------------

While Sango had been outside, Tora had pulled a small glass vile with white powder in it. Carefully he tipped it into the sake pourer and put some of the contents into Sango's cup.

Sango reentered the bar, but with a definite smell of vomit on her breath. Tora offered her the cup, and she accepted.

She sipped at it and eventually finished the cup. All this sake was getting to her, she had better stop soon. It had been a long while since she had been drunk, but the feeling was leaving her body and her words becoming slurred.

Tora was pouring her another cup when she attempted to stop him.

"Toraaaaaaaa-sannnn, I rallydun thhhenk I should haaave anothaaa sa- sa- sakeeeeeee. I…. I donfeel ssssoo welllll.

She was feeling, really, really dizzy. She put a hand to her forehead, lost balance, and fell sideways. Blackness was overtaking her, and that was just what Tora had been waiting for.

----------------------------------

Kagome was shocked.

She walked a few steps closer to the hut. Lightly, she touched the side with her hand. She drew her hand back to her chest. With that one touch, a feeling of emptiness had hollowed her. Numb was the only thing she could think of. The own weight of herself brought her down to her knees on the dirt. Her left knee hit a rock at first then slid to the ground. The bleeding started, but she didn't notice. The smell reached Inuyasha's nose though.

"Kagome, you're bleeding!"

Kagome looked down at her knee. Wow, she was bleeding.

"It's nothing."

"Yes it-"

His sentence was broken off by her actions.

Into her bag she reached and brought out some items and laid them on the ground.

Expensive rice paper, a bottle of ink, a paintbrush, matches, and incense sticks were now in front of her.

Inuyasha was curious.

He sniffed the air trying to trace her emotions, hoping they would give something away. Sad, but calm.

'Oh yes, that says a whole lot,' Inuyasha thought sarcastically to himself.

Kagome struggled to pick up a large flattish rock among the many around the hut.

Inuyasha picked it up easily with one hand and said, "Tell me what you're up to or I won't give you this."

Kagome's eyes narrowed and glared at him, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Come on Inuyasha, give it here."

"Not until you tell me what you're doing!" 

"Look, if you just give me a few more minutes, you'll know what I'm doing. I thought you'd know by now anyway."

"Feh." Inuyasha said angrily and set the rock down in front of her.

"Thank you," she huffed, and she moved to her knees.

After about another minute of Kagome moving things around, she motioned for Inuyasha to kneel down next to her.

Hesitating for a moment, he followed to where her hand had been and sat down on his knees.

Barely above a whisper, she asked, "Can you write your mother's name on this?" In her right hand she held the rice paper. In her left was the ink and paintbrush.

Suddenly, a memory that had been locked away in the back of his mind for years took over his thoughts.

_Flashback (a/n, Inu is about 6 or so here.)_

_Inuyasha woke up that morning and walked over to his mother's bed. It seemed that she had already risen._

_Inuyasha looked around the small hut_ _and didn't see her, so he walked outside._

_There he saw his mother and smelled salty tears. Looking more closely at her face, he could see the trails from the tears on her face. He ran up to her and asked her if she had been hurt._

_His mother took him in her arms, and held him close. _

"_Inuyasha… I'm not hurt. It's just… it's the anniversary of your father's death."_

_He had forgotten that today was that day._

_Inuyasha listened to the sound of her heart beating as she said these words. At night, when he'd have nightmares, he'd go to his mother's bed, and lie next to her and listen to her heart beating. Something about it was so comforting to him. It made him feel that she'd be there forever for him._

_He took in all her warmth and she held him close as new tears began to form in her eyes and started to stream down her face silently._

_Inuyasha didn't know what to do. Usually it was she that comforted him. He just let her hold him until she felt she was okay. She moved him down off her lap to where he was standing and he could see her face. Her eyes were slightly red, and her air was sad, but she spoke with confidence. He looked back down at the ground._

"_Inuyasha, would like to come with me to your father's memoriam this year?"_

_Inuyasha moved his big, curious eyes up to his mother's face. This had never happened before. Normally, she would find someone who didn't despise their family to stay with Inuyasha a bit, perhaps watch over him some, and she'd go off alone. Did she finally think him old enough to go with her?_

_Inuyasha nodded his head slowly without saying a word._

_Quickly she went inside the hut. His mother came out with a pair of outside shoes to walk in. She didn't bring a pair for Inuyasha, because she knew better than that. She knew Inuyasha didn't need shoes, much less, he didn't like to wear them. They soon walked off into the forest grateful for the cool morning air that was relief from the usual heat._

_The walk was mainly in silence. Once, Inuyasha's mother bent down in a forest clearing to pick some beautifully colored wildflowers. They were so bright and cheerful; they reminded Inuyasha of the happy times, not the mournful. After walking a few more miles they came upon a clearing on a mountain side. There in front of them was a tall, elaborate memorial with two smaller headstones, with a tall one in the middle. Written down the middle stone, was his father's name. His mother did not seem to feel the need to cry._

_It was not even a grave. Sadly, not even his own mother knew of the grave's whereabouts. All that they knew was that it was hidden away safely, but for what reason, his mother did not know._

'_Look on the past and remember the happy times. Do not dwell on the bad.' She had said many times before._

"_Inuyasha, will you kneel with me and say prayers?" Inuyasha silently obeyed and kneeled next to her in front of his father's memorial. He murmured some prayers unknown to him along with his mother. He did not view this trip as sad. No, he was more curious than anything._

_His mother bent down closer to the grave and laid the flowers there. They had no money to spend on the expensive incense sticks that would have been placed there traditionally._

_Inuyasha was slightly hurt though. There had always been a wound where it concerned his father. Something irreparable that not even time would be able to heal. He had never known his father. His mother always spoke of him as a great, powerful man, but he would not know any of this. There would always be an empty spot in his heart where a father would have filled its place._

_His mother called him over to her._

"_Would you like to hear some stories about your father?"_

_Inuyasha vigorously nodded his head, eager to know more about his father, to gather more information._

_Her stories ranged from how they had met, all the funny stories, all the happy times. A few sad ones dotted in between, but nothing serious. His mother knew how he worked, she understood him. Understood him like no one else had._

_It was turning into the heat of the day, and they began their journey back._

_End of Flashback_

Inuyasha stared blankly at the sheet of paper. That memory… it had been so long forgotten. He had tried to forget it. It had been so close to his mother's death. His mind had blocked out every memory surrounding _that_ time. It was not the memory so much that numbed him; it was the fact that he had remembered it. It had been so long… so long since anything that close to his mother's death had reappeared to him in any sort of form.

Inuyasha took the paper and just held it in his hands loosely. Kagome offered him the paintbrush by trying to hand it to him, then immediately her hands dropped when she saw the expression on his face.

His face was blank, but his eyes spoke to her. They were filled with pain, sorrow, the gold was shadowed and clouded, not their usual brightness. She set the paintbrush down and wanted to do something for him, to make the pain go away. Kagome wished that she had never brought him to this place. She should've known better, she scolded herself.

Out of the corner of her eyes, interrupting her self-punishment, she saw Inuyasha reach toward to where the paintbrush was now abandoned, and pick it up. He pulled the ink closer to him, and popped the cork out of the bottle.

Carefully, he dipped the brush into the ink, and began to write. (A/n, okay this is going to be really stupid and everything, but I don't want to assume that his mother's name, so write now, there's not going to be a specific name that I call her. Sorry, unless anyone knows her name in the Japanese manga[Izayoi is not her name, sorry anime watchers lol.)

He offered her the paper without words, and she took it in equal silence. Kagome placed the paper on the rock after propping it up so the rock now stood, almost like a memorial, similar but in miniature to the one Inuyasha had just remembered.

She took the incense sticks, placed them into the ground, and lit the matches. It was now dark, and the match was the brightest thing close to them. Kagome lit the incense sticks and the beautiful smell of jasmine surrounded them.

Kagome began some prayers, and Inuyasha joined in of his own accord, but they were so soft that only a demon would have been able to hear them. The smoke from the incense sticks swirled and spiraled around them.

The prayers ended, and silence fell about them. Kagome rested her head on Inuyasha's shoulder, and tears started to fall from her eyes. Inuyasha was about to try to comfort her in some way, when they heard a voice behind them. 

"Inuyasha… Finally, I have found you…" And complete blackness encircled them.


	6. AN 2

Hi everyone! It's Squeaky D

I haven't been about lately, because I went to Germany for a week with school and then my parents and I went to London. But I'm here now and won't be going away again any time soon, lol.

So how are you enjoying the story? RisingXXAngel and I would both love to know what you think! Is it OOC? Is it emotive? What do you like about it? What do not like? Please, please, please review and let us know! I always make the effort to reply to all your reviews too! D

Another thing that has been bothering us - is why are there so many Sesshomaru and Kagome pairings? And where did the idea come from anyway? RisingXXAngel promises a cookie to anyone who can answer that for us.

Squeaky12345 D


	7. Struggles and Memories

Tora-san carefully picked Sango up off the dirty earth floor. Dust covered the back of her kimono, but she was blissfully unawares of that small fact. Tora was too exhausted and lazy to actually carry her, so he slung her right arm around his right shoulder, and proceeded to drag the unconscious demon slayer out of the inn. However, he did not leave through the front entrance into the main street.

'Too many people' He thought. 'Also, if we leave through the back, we're much less likely to be confronted by anybody who might slow me down.'

He thanked the inn keeper and was about to walk the opposite direction toward the back exit, when all of a sudden, the keeper stopped him in his steps.

"Where, may I ask, are you going with this young woman?"

"Oh, I must take dear Sango back to where she was staying. I'm afraid she just had one too many drinks. I managed to get the address and her companion's names out of her. She seems to have had a long day and is weary from all her traveling." He ended this with a sigh that topped perfection for his story.

The inn keeper just nodded and let the man head to the back exit. The man seemed fairly trustworthy, and respectable. Although, this _was_ the first time the inn keeper had ever seen him. But, it also wasn't his problem. His reputation wasn't all that high, so there wasn't much to maintain. He felt he had enough problems of his own at the time.

Miroku rushed into the inn only a minute after Tora had left. He ran and found the waitress in a red kimono.

"Have you seen a beautiful young woman in a pink and green kimono?" The words spilled out of his mouth in a hurry and were barely discernable.

"Why yes sir. She came here for a drink sir. A man soon sat with her, very handsome he was. Most interesting eyes he had. Why, quite similar to yours I should think. Except bluer as I recall." All the time she was saying this, Miroku's eyes grew wider and wider.

"Well, where have they gone?!" Miroku said desperately. He needed to find Sango!

"I have been in the back sir, so I have not been able to see everything. Though I can tell you they did not take leave through the front. I have a view from the storeroom that allows me to take view of some of the outside, which includes the front entrance"

"What other exits are there then?!" Miroku was getting quite impatient with the young woman.

"There is the back exit sir. She did not look quite well I fear. That man was very handsome though, very… handsome… If only I found a man like that…" The waitress drabbled on and on, and she was about to press unwanted attentions onto him, had he been there. Miroku had hardly heard the words 'back exit' before he had pushed his way through the people, making his way to the exit.

-----------------------------------

Shippo ran through the forest frantically. The foxfire had worked temporarily as a distraction, but only for a few moments. Shippo ran as fast as his legs would carry him, his breathing harsh and fast. His mind was rushing

The sudden blast of fire had blinded the werewolf from the complete darkness. His eyes burned from the brightness of it, he was stunned. He could smell the smell of the demon running away from him. He wanted the food. Running only increased the temptation of such meat.

Shippo's feet padded the ground in hard beats. He had been sprinting for the past while, and his energy was draining from his body. He looked everywhere for a place to go, somewhere where he might be able to escape the terror following him. Then rain began to fall. Not light showers, but hard and pounding, soaking every inch of his clothing, skin, and hair.

The dirt turned to mud, and it was even harder to run. The wolf was close on his tracks, every second drawing closer. To Shippo, his death seemed immanent, impossible to escape from.

His feet were sinking into the mud. All Shippo knew to do was to fight, to fight for his life. 'This is the end…' was all he could keep thinking. He had no clue where he even was now, and the rain was washing away scents he could have followed back to the campsite.

Cracks of close lightning made his ears ring. The bright flash of light illuminated the sky and little spots appeared in his vision. A headache began to form and Shippo's muscles pleaded for the little fox to stop. He was almost out of energy, when another lightning bolt again illuminated the forest. In the side of a hill to his far left, he spotted an overhang just slightly big enough for him to fit under.

It was his last hope.

His last chance.

The rain was so thick that even the werewolf was having problems seeing. Everything splattered around him and he could hardly view anything past five feet in any direction. The scent of the fox was nearly gone, washed away by the falling rain, but he still could see a reddish blur in the close distance. Then all of a sudden, the blur vanished from sight.

------------------

**(Out of town slightly)**

Miroku almost broke the door down in his haste to follow the stranger. His eyes seemed to be alight with fire.

'If this guy has even touched Sango, I swear by Buddha I won't stop searching until I kill him'

Tora-san had not managed to get too far. He was slightly drunk himself and was not all that strong in the first place.

'This better be worth all the trouble I'm going through.' He thought to himself.

Tora was a man who had used his tactics on many women. His ways were not unlike Miroku's, but they were cheaper, quicker, and disgusting. His natural good looks were enough to persuade many women to come home with him, but a few, like Sango, needed more… _encouragement_. Tora went to inns (a/n, this is where they would buy drinks in the feudal era), and when the time was right, he'd snatch the woman up like a tiger catching his prey. (a/n, I hope a few of you get the connection, most probably will not. .)

Miroku saw a man up ahead, supporting a woman in… a purple and green kimono. He wanted to run at the man, kill the man, to destroy him for trying to pull anything on Sango. If he was only like Inuyasha, if only he had claws, he'd shred him into pieces that would fertilize the grass. However, he had to keep his temper in check. He tried a smoother tactic. As calmly as he could, with his teeth clenched together, he approached the man with quick strides taking deep breaths to calm himself with every step.

"My dear man, is something wrong with this woman? Is she… ill?" The words were barely able to escape from his lips. Every second longer that he looked at the man, the more ideas of what to do to him formed.

"Oh, no sir. My wife has had just a few too many drinks at the bar. She has had a long day raising our children and working in the fields. Tired, is what she mainly is."

"Oh is that so." Miroku's voice began to rise in anger and his temper began to become uncontrollable. "I was under the impression that **Sango** was my _fiancé_!" His fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles were white as snow.

Tora's eyes were wide with fright. All the color left his face, soon to resemble Miroku's knuckles. He had not known that she was traveling with anyone. What he had said to the innkeeper had been an intended lie. In all his years of practice, nothing like this had ever happened, and this was something he wasn't prepared for. 'She can't be worth all this,' he thought to himself. He let Sango's body fall to the grass with a thud and he broke off into a run.

Miroku may have been slower than Sango, but he was by no means slower than this sleaze. He caught up to him and kicked him to the ground. He pinned Tora with his shakujo (a/n, Miroku's staff) and with one foot.

"Please, I beg of you, I didn't-"

"Mean any harm?" Miroku finished his sentence for Tora in a scathing voice.

"My name is-" Again, Miroku interrupted him

"Why would I want to know the name of a lowlife? Furthermore, why should I let your pathetic life leave untouched?"

"P-Please, I beg of you. I did not mean her any harm!"

"Exactly WHAT _were_ you planning to do with her?! What have you _done_ to her already?!"

Behind him, Miroku heard a slight groan. He immediately rushed over to Sango leaving Tora pinned to the ground only by his own fear.

"Sango, Sango!!" He called out to her. He picked her head up slightly off the ground, but she was still unconscious. Tora came to his senses, and moved slowly and quietly to his feet. As soon as he was standing, Tora broke out in a sprint towards the forest. Miroku heard him, but did not waste his energy chasing after him. He was concerned about Sango now.

----------------

Inuyasha could hear a scream echoing throughout his head. It was piercing, and one he recognized. His mind was buzzing with that high pitched tone.

He opened his mouth to yell out.

"KAGOME!"

But no sound came. Instead, the darkness lifted. Inuyasha then plummeted into the depths of his own mind.

Inuyasha was nearly five, running happily out to the green meadows that were so close to his house. The sun warmed his back and he felt excessively pleasant. He loved the touch of the squishy grass under his feet, the wind blowing his ears back, all the interesting smells he caught on the gusts of wind. Inuyasha took it all in. It was a beautiful day and he was happy to be outside. His mother had been sick again, but now she was recovering. Lately she had been this way, becoming ill, recovering, then only to fall ill yet again.

His ears perked up. He could hear children laughing, playing, adults conversing amongst one another while their youngsters romped about. Smiling happily to himself, he ran over to where he had heard the noises. Soon his eyes caught the sight of children chasing after one another. He ran over to them. Some of the adult's eyes followed him, and they rose off the comfortable blankets that lay on the ground. A few others beckoned their children to their side. One by one, as they caught sight of him, they froze.

"Can I join you?" He asked, smiling, but showing his two fangs.

One little girl instantly became wide-eyed and turned to her friend. She whispered into her friend's ear, not knowing that Inuyasha could hear every word.

"That's him! That's the part demon!"

Inuyasha's ears drooped and his body felt numb. This was not the first time he had this kind of experience of coldness due to the demonic blood flowing through his veins.

He heard the ball roll onto the grass and he ran to pick it up. It smelled of dirt, water, lunch that had been left on hands, only to be wiped off onto this ball. It was made out of leather, strung together with thread, and filled with raw wood shavings.

However, when he picked it up, he used too much force, and his claws caught in the leather. He shook his claws and let out a growl of frustration. Inuyasha was struggling to pull his claws out when it ripped. The mix of wood dust and shavings fell onto the green hued grass, making it plainly visible to see what had happened.

A young boy of about 3 began to bawl and ran over to his mother. His tears were thick with salt and it rose to Inuyasha's nose. The boy buried his face into his mother's waist, wrapping his arms around

The mother to whom the little boy was crying into her waist, glared down at him with a look that could have killed.

"Do you know that you just destroyed a ball that this boy's father made for him? His father is **dead**. It is irreplaceable. But, of course, _you_ wouldn't know. You're only a demon. You have no feelings. You care for nothing. You, by nature, live only to kill, to take lives. That is how you will be."

She said this all in a loud voice, her voice rising in volume with ever sentence. Inuyasha flattened his hears back to his head to try to soften the words. Perhaps this softened the noise level, but every word stung. Every word echoed throughout his head.

From seemingly out of nowhere, he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. His eyes darted around to see where it had come from. An older girl, perhaps 14, had thrown it. When she saw that Inuyasha had seen her throw it, she began to say something in a shaking voice, trying to inject false confidence into it.

"G-Go away from here, you demon. We w-want nothing to do with you. L-l-leave, now!

A few of the older kids, and even a couple of the adults began to throw twigs, pebbles, rocks, anything they could pick up at him.

The blows hit him one by one, knocking him down further each time. It was not the debris that hurt, it was the intention; the meaning behind it all.

His mother's sweet scent came from behind. Scooping him up silently, she held him and carried him in the direction of their home. But, before departing, she looked at the small group of people with a solemn, but very sad look.

He was in her arms even as she made her way around to the back of the house, where the garden was. At this time of the year, the garden was filled with some vegetables and lightly scented flowers.

She sat herself in the dirt. His mother had never been too picky about where she sat herself. He felt her arms wrap around him and pull him into her warmth. Inuyasha instinctively moved closer into her and stole all the warmth he could. This was one thing he had always loved about her. When she held him, all his troubles melted away.

"I should have never left you…" he whispered into the folds of her kimono.

"Oh Inuyasha, my dear son…"

Even at the age of five, Inuyasha was still stubborn about showing his feelings.

"What did they say?"

Something about his mother, it made him open up. Around her he felt at peace, at total comfort. Slowly and carefully, he mumbled some of the hateful things to his mother.

"You know," his mother began. She moved him up onto her lap so they could see face to face.

"There are none so blind as those who choose not to see, Inuyasha. They refuse to see the real you. They see not past your blood now, but, someday, they will my son… They will…"

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RisingXXAngel

Hoped you liked the chapter, reviews are welcomed ;P


	8. His Face

Alright! Hey guys! I'm working on updating and writing faster so you won't have to wait! Does that sound okay? P

I keep worrying I'm going to hit writer's block soon, or overwrite for the story. But so far, nothing like that has happened… so I'm holding up hope! P

Well here's the next chapter!!!

**Disclaimer as usual… Neither Squeaky nor I own any of the characters from the manga or anime, Inuyasha. It'd be a nice pressie though!**

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Shippo was dripping from head to toe, soaked with rain water. Flashes of lightning filled his little overhang with light while thunder echoed and shook the ground. Huddled under his safe haven, Shippo was shuddering violently due to fright and cold. It didn't help that his muscles and ears were aching. All he had to do now was hope… and wait…

Outside in the pouring rain was the werewolf, in apparent confusion. The anger was apparent in his features. His blood red eyes were narrowed to slits and his muscles tensed as his face turned this way and that as his nose tried desperately to catch a whiff of his meal. He sprinted around the area he had seen the tiny fox disappear, but with no luck.

With every splash of muddy water that Shippo heard outside the overhang, his eyes grew wider. He had to devise a plan, and quick. Quite soon it was likely his luck would run out. It hadn't taken him too long to spot the hideout.

He opened his pouch of weapons that he carried around everywhere. His face fell in despair as he emptied out. Several mushrooms, a small pile of leaves, a top, and a few other toys tumbled out of the leather bag.All of these were useful, sure, but in larger amounts. His training and their recent battles had drained Shippo of his resources. Shippo's mind struggled to devise a plan.

He thought of past battles hoping that something that had once happened might come in handy in this time of need, but everything ran dry.

'Most times we actually had plans…' Shippo thought with depression.

'Most times… but what happened with those other times?' replied the little voice of truth hiding in the back of his mind.

Shippo sat up from his sulk. His mind kicked into full gear. This couldn't be the end of himself. Other times… they had just… improvised, throwing random things out as they came. Back to sulking…

Shippo glanced down at the pile of items he had left.

'Mushrooms. Well those worked well for trails, but what was there to follow? They could explode, but with so few…?'

'Top. That would work well! Pin him down… and then what? His foxfire wouldn't last an instant in this rain.'

'Happa Leaves equaled multiplication. Sure. He'd have a few clones. He could run away… but only to be found and caught by the werewolf being able to follow scents… Considering my clones carry no scent,' he thought, 'it'd be easy. In rain they don't do well, I haven't mastered them well enough to withstand weather. They'd be gone pretty fast.'

Shippo stuffed the weapons back into the pouch, a sense of dread rising in him as each second passed.

But, yet… there still was a dot of hope inside him. It was probably because Kagome had always taught him to believe.

Chancing a quick glance to see if it was anywhere near dawn, he crawled a little out to see where the moon was positioned in the sky. It was still rather high in the sky, and dawn didn't seem near. The rain was letting up slightly, but only by a few drops perhaps.

The wolf searched through the trees. He had still not left the area of where he had seen the miniature demon disappear. Letting out a howl of frustration and rage, he whirled around and caught the briefest glimpse of red.

Shippo heard the howl, oh so clearly. It sent shivers up his spine and he scrambled and clawed his way back to shelter, only to hear the pounding of huge, animalistic feet speeding toward him.

'If anytime is the time for improvisation, I guess it would be now.'

Shippo jumped out of his small haven and ran to the left, making sure that the werewolf caught sight of him. He pulled out his leaves and counted them as he was running, knowing he had only a short time to use them before he was food.

Five.

No wait, six.

Shippo gritted his teeth and ran behind a tree for quick coverage.

The werewolf would have laughed at this time if he could've. The foolish young fox, thinking he could escape him with a mere tree.

Then a yell stopped him in his tracks.

"HAPPA LEAVES BUSHIN!" **(A/n, okay, this is probably totally off from the real thing, though I have no clue what that is, so if anyone knows, please tell! The leaves allow him to make copies of himself.)**

Out from behind the trees, seven Shippos ran into the forest, all in different directions.

The werewolf was dumbstruck. Which to choose? Did it even matter?

Up the treetops three Shippos ran.

Two Shippos scattered in different directions.

The remaining two were nowhere to be seen at the moment. From the treetops, a yell was emitted.

"TSUBUSHI GOMA!" (Smashing Top)

Looking upward, a falling top was growing larger and larger until it was three times the size of the werewolf at least.

The top landed right on the middle of his back pinning him down with a yelp, yet still staying perfectly balanced. The top weighed too much for him to even move. Pain seared through his back and the werewolf had a sensation that his left arm, pinned under him, had broken with the fall.

The Shippos from the treetops were fading away. They disappeared with a small cloud of smoke from each.

Three Shippos emerged from amongst the trees. The three new Shippos were also disappearing quickly. All together, they ran around the half-demon throwing the few precious mushrooms this way and that creating a circle-like trap around him.

Under the immense weight of the top, the werewolf was struggling to get free when an ear-splitting wailing sound came to him in every direction. The pitch of the wailing only increased and increased until his ears felt like they were going to burst. His eyes were squinted in pain, and the sound was so overwhelming, that the werewolf had no chance of possibly hearing the remaining fox demon's cry.

"EXPLODING KINOKO!" (Mushrooms)

An explosion echoed throughout the entire forest.

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Her head was pounding.

That was the first thing that Kagome could think of when she awoke.

The path she was heading down was bumpy. It shook her nonstop, but yet she didn't fall off.

She put a hand up to her hand. Kagome more tried to put her hand to her head, if she could have. Her hands were bound uncomfortably with rope.

Kagome's eyes scanned herself.

Not only were her hands bound, but her feet and her torso were covered with rope bound tightly to the moving ground beneath her.

Yet it was not moving ground.

It was a colossal boar with tusks almost as long as Kagome's body itself. The ropes that constricted her body were expertly tied around the underbelly of the boar.

She was passing through a dark and ominous forest.

"INUYASHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kagome cried out to the night sky, but in vain. All that escaped past her mouth was a muffled yell.

"So… you have awakened miko…" A quiet voice from behind her said.

"The time is not right."

A sharp blow was issued to Kagome's and darkness reclaimed her as its victim.

Blood leaked from the crown of her head and matted the dark hair thickly.

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Miroku heard booms of thunder in the distant west, but paid little attention to it. Sango was still unconscious, and still in his arms.

Unlike the unfortunate Tora, Miroku was able to pick Sango up fully and carry her back to the safety of the tent. Regret filled his chest as he walked back to the campground.

With every step, more pangs of guilt hit him.

Whenever Sango's eyelashes fluttered, or when she moved slightly, hope filled him immediately, only to be drained like water when her eyes did not open.

A light drizzle had begun to fall, and Miroku sensed that what would come later would only be more and heavier rain. Miroku did his best to cover Sango from the rain, allowing himself to be drenched rather than the woman he was carrying.

Finally, Miroku was able to reach the dry, warm, tent, and laid her down on her pallet. Quickly he ran to the nearby stream carrying a cloth, and soaked it with cool water. When he returned, he folded the cloth neatly and draped it across Sango's forehead after brushing her bangs back. He sat nearby her while Kirara curled up neatly by Sango, purring and nudging her master hopefully.

The rain outside pounded against the sturdy vinyl cloth of the tent ("All weather resistant!" was what it had said on the tag.). Miroku silently thanked Kagome for her status of being from the future, allowing them to have the cover from the rain.

Time passed slowly for Miroku as he awaited the awakening of Sango.

Minutes passed, and yet it never came. (I think it's slightly mean how he doesn't notice Shippo isn't there!)

After what seemed like hours…

Sango's eyes opened, blinking several times.

"Oh thank goodness Sango, you're awake!" Miroku was jubilant at the sight of her eyes open. She had finally regained consciousness.

Not noticing anyone around her, she crawled and struggled to pull herself outside and vomited on the grass.

Miroku rushed over to her as her arms gave way from under her. He caught her just in time before she fell into the mud and mess. Helping her up and leading her (mainly carrying) into the tent, he set her back on the pallet. This time, he got one of Kagome's bottles of water and used the cloth that had been on Sango's head to clean her up some.

Gently, he wiped her face clean. Opening the bottle of water, he handed it to her, but she was still weak and couldn't very well use her arms. The water ended up spilling all over front. Miroku lifted her head up with his hand and helped her drink some water. Most dribbled down her chin, soaking her kimono still further, but some managed to find its way into her mouth, and she swallowed it.

Even Miroku, with Sango in such a condition as this, didn't try to pull anything.

He quickly got her a pillow and set it up under her head.

Everything was swirling around in a blur of colors for Sango. Nothing focused, and everything was smeared like watercolor. Trying to see was like putting two pieces from different puzzles together.

Only one thing stood out to her. Only one thing, even thought it was just like everything else, just as blurred and abnormal.

His face.

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**Pretty Important Thingy?**

Alright guys! I'm going to be doing some renovation on my chapters. No storyline changes, but I'm going to change some wording and stuff like that. If there are any major storyline changes that will affect the story itself, I'll be sure to notify you. )

RisingXXAngel

**Review Review Review! Know that we appreciate it. D**

**P.S. This time it's **_**CUPCAKES!**_** to anyone who reviews!**

_While supplies last ;)_


	9. The Awakening and The Return

Sango was awake.

Sango was alive.

Thoughts were spurting in jumbled messes from every which direction in Miroku's head. He was so excited, yet so mad, and guilty. It was all because of him. All the blame rested upon him; it was all on his account.

He caused her this pain; the physical pain of sickness from the medicine, the emotional pain of him being his usual lecherous self.

But, he always chased after her. No matter how many hundreds of slaps he got which might burn for an hour, no matter how many massive bumps he got from the boomerang, he never gave up.

Sango rolled over and lay on her side feeling completely and utterly miserable. Her entire body ached, and her stomach only wanted to rid itself of anything, even though it lacked anything to throw up. A rubbed, irritated, burning was coming from her throat and a headache felt like it was cleaving her head into two.

She began to throw up again, but nothing came except an acidy taste burning the back of her throat. Tears rolled down her face from the pain as her body went into overdrive trying to fix itself.

Miroku was dashing about, trying to find something that might help Sango in the least. Kagome's big white first-aid kit had been left in the tent in case of an emergency, and Miroku poured the contents onto the ground, shaking and scattering them into a big medical mess. He picked up a bottle, only to throw it aside when he found them to be useless.

The sounds he could hear from behind him of Sango retching mixed with her dry sobs made him more miserable and only made his search more feverous.

After finding a few medicinal bottles that looked potentially useful, Miroku hastily snatched up a bottle of water which he had thrown haphazardly in his urgent ransacking of Kagome's backpack. Being a monk, he had next to no experience in dealing with true illnesses where no demons were involved.

"Sango, Sango! Can you hear me?"

Sango coughed and let the tears roll down, but gave no response.

"Sango! Answer me!"

Sango rolled over toward the sound of the noise, and gazed blearily up at the blurred object in front of her. Her eyes swam in and out of focus, struggling to see the face.

"Mi- Miroku?" She answered in a raspy whisper, forcing every syllable out.

"Oh thank the gods! Drink this."

Miroku lifted her head and attempted to pour some water into her mouth. Sango worked on getting her mouth and body to accept the liquid, and some of it did manage to escape down her throat, soothing the rawness that had only been irritated further by the bile.

Almost as soon as she had finished off half of the water bottle, the retching began yet again, although this time her body had something to get rid of.

Attempting to drag herself back out into the rain, she crawled and pulled herself across the floor. Miroku immediately rushed to her side as soon as the noises began and lifted her up supporting her gently, but quickly moving his feet across the tent floor, hoping that they would make it outside in time to avoid the mess.

They almost made it.

But not quite.

After Sango was finished, he supported her back, taking almost all the weight off of her feet and laid her back down on her pallet.

He quickly rewetted the cloth and laid it upon her head. Miroku struggled to open the bottles, but he finally was able to able to get out a pill from each of the three bottles he had chosen. (Stupid child proof caps!)

Miroku lifted her head up once again to give her the pills.

"Open your mouth Sango."

Sango began to open her mouth, but as soon as she saw that it was pills he was giving her, she quickly shut her mouth and slammed her head back onto the pillow forcing Miroku to release his hold.

She had looked into his eyes, and seen far too much resemblance to Tora's eyes. It hurt her to see even the slightest reminder of that filth. He had gotten to her when she was down, comforted her when she was upset about Miroku. He had tricked her. And to think of what he might of, could of, would have done…

Retching noises were heard and the pallet only missed being stained by a few inches.

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Shippo's body was leaned uncomfortably against a surrounding tree in the clearing by the explosion. The dark night's hues of blue were lightening, but not interrupted by pinks or oranges of the rising sun just yet.

Rain fell on his bruised and bleeding face. He slumped against the tree trunk with his eyes closed. His breathing was fast, but he did calm it down, and let out a sigh.

Pulling himself up, Shippo looked around. The monster had collapsed on the ground, face down with his head in the mud, a tree trunk nearby.

"I did it…" he said in almost a whisper.

"I did it."

"I did it!"

"I DID IT!"

He screamed those words to the entire forest which was still silent from the rain. Water dripped from an upper branch onto his already drenched body. Shippo burst into fits of laughter from joy, success, and just giddiness.

Shippo tried to stand on his legs shakily, and thankfully, they didn't give way to his weight. He tried walking a few steps, and found that his left leg didn't respond all that well to movement.

His wooden horse was demolished into little splinters. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to fix that. _If_ he could fix that. He needed to get back to camp, and he wasn't aware of how long the journey back would be.

The werewolf had chased him around relentlessly for what seemed like an eternity before Shippo had turned the tables and attacked.

The little fox had jumped in to attack the fox, only letting the mushrooms explode at the precise moment. However, he had been slightly too late. The werewolf had grabbed and swiped desperately at Shippo's small body, his meal. The monster had missed actually clutching onto the little red-furred body. However, the werewolf did manage to get in several deep slashes.

Shippo set off the mushroom bombs right next to the demon's head so that the force of the blast sent both of them flying, the top turning into shrapnel. A colossal body slammed into the tree letting out an earsplitting _CRACK!_ as the tree snapped near the top and came crashing down on the leg. A miniature body slid across the ground, skidding amongst rocks and broken tree branches until his body slowed to a stop, emitting a light thud as it collided at the base of the trunk.

The wounds on his arms and stomach burned, and he could tell that they would require treatment. He needed to get back to the tent so that Kagome could attend to the gashes and bruises that his body was covered in.

'Is it even alive?' Shippo questioned himself as he looked in the demon's way. He wasn't quite sure if the body was moving up and down in a breathing pattern. Shippo was glad to have the werewolf off his tail, but it also wasn't quite the demon's fault for his curse. As he looked over the body, he could tell there was no movement. The young fox demon had just killed his toughest enemy yet, and he wasn't sure if he was happy or not.

Shippo began to walk clumsily back in no apparent direction, stumbling and tripping over the smallest rocks. Daylight approached with pinks, stunning oranges, and warm golds, though his eyes were so worn that they didn't catch the array of the spectacular colors being painted in the sky.

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Miroku was agitated. Sango only seemed to be getting worse by the minute, and she still refused to take the pills from him. He didn't understand! Other times when Kagome gave them medicine for multiple reasons, she would take them just like everyone else.

Maybe it was because it was _him_ that was giving her the pills.

His face paled at that thought. Had this really been the last straw for her? Would she trust him no more? She had always threatened him that there would be one time that she would break and quote, 'May the gods help me for I don't know what I will do to you!'

It was absolutely critical that he find Kagome so that she could give Sango the pills.

Then something in his brain alerted him.

Kagome.

Where_was_ she!

And Inuyasha!

They were supposed to be back hours and hours ago!

It must have been the absolute desperation of the situation that blocked out all perverted thoughts that would have normally swam around at the situation.

His head twisted from side to side frantically searching the small area as if they would pop into existence.

Shippo!

He stood up abruptly.

Miroku's eyes swept the tent rapidly in hopes of seeing some kind of message like a singing mushroom trail that might indicate where he had gone to.

He ran to the tent opening and looked outside as if Shippo would come running up grinning brilliantly with some kind of small prey or toy in his hands. No such event happened.

The sky was most definitely lightning now, and the sun was on the horizon.

In the forest, he jumped as he heard a rustling of bushes.

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Shippo had been stumbling and scraping himself against all sorts of branches and thorn bushes for about an hour now. He was dead-on-his-feet exhausted and just desperately wanted to sleep off the weariness. This fox demon had never been anything like what he had just experienced, and was still a bit shell shocked that he had pulled it all off.

He had seen a light poking through the many branches that tended to obstruct his view. Following this path, he had continued for a long while, and the sun was already peeking over the hills, threatening to turn into morning.

The bushes and brambles had begun to thin and hope was welling up inside of him. If only, if only, he could get back to the tent and just collapse. That was his plan for the day. And… he was starving.

Shippo finally spotted the way out of the forest, and used up the last of energy to tear and claw his way out from behind the brush. He fell on all fours when he saw the tent and thanked heaven that he had made it, and now he could sleep all he wanted.

"Shippo?!"

The sound echoed in his head faintly, and he let it pass, thinking it was perhaps the beginning of a nice, long, dream.

"What happened to you?!"

The voice was worried and concerned, and that's the only thing that kept Shippo conscious for the smallest moment of time.

The fox demon managed to grunt something unintelligible.

Shippo next felt the immensely pleasurable feeling of sleep taking over, and he gave into it.

Miroku gaped at the now sleeping kitsune. What in the hell had happened while they were gone?! Picking up the little, unconscious fox demon, Miroku carried him back into the tent and quickly set up a make-shift pallet, similar to Sango's, but untidier.

As Miroku carefully examined Shippo, he found that the fox had received dozens of minor cuts, bruises, and several extensive gashes among most of his body. He also discovered a really nasty mound on Shippo's head about half of his own fist-size. Shippo was a demon, therefore would heal quickly, but these all needed to be treated.

He had gone from being his a-typical perverted self, to a person caring for a really ill woman, to a man caring for a still really ill woman and a fox demon. Why didn't he just start up a damn hospital!

Miroku's medical knowledge did not cover half of what these wounds would require, and the extensiveness of Shippo's wounds were so gruesome in themselves, that he would surely flounder in attending to them.

What had Shippo gotten himself into?!

Pulling the medical supplies which were still strewn across the floor toward him into one tall pile, he set to work, copying everything which Kagome had ever done, with the exception of stitching. The very idea of sewing people back together sent a chilly shiver down his spine.

If only he could know that the two very people he needed were not only miles and miles away from him, but also, very, very, far away from each other.

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**Okay guys, I am so, so, so sorry about not updating in forever. (My brother took revenge and deleted this chapter, so I had to start over) I know this chapter is a total rip-off because it is short. However!!! I do have the next few chapters of it planned out, and I have already written over a page in 15 minutes. **

**The reason why this chapter isn't longer is because I have a really special part coming up next (which I'm nervous about writing; I'm worried that I'm going to screw this up), and I didn't want to publish it now, because it wouldn't be all that special anymore (I know, stupid). **

**I've been really busy, but thankfully after the holidays, everything is clearing up! Hope everyone has had a happy holiday! Let me know how I'm doing, even though I probably don't deserve it for this chapter, haha.**

**I'm going to have the next chapter up by next week (well, this coming week)**

**How did everyone's holidays go?**

**RisingXXAngel**

** _ALRIGHT!_**

**_New thingy!_ _ the special(ish) chapter will be put up the week of the 27th! I'm getting people to read over it, and I may add some more. _ There will be plot development!!!!!!!!!!  
**


	10. Heart Beat

**Sadly, we don't own Inuyasha, manga or anime lol! Hope you like the chapter!**_** P**  
_

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

He checked his mother's heartbeat before he left. Inuyasha didn't go anywhere without making sure that the tempo was steady and clear.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

Inuyasha made a hasty dash out to the forest in hopes that he might catch a small meaty prey to make a soup with for his mother. She had been better lately, and that had given him hope. He wasn't the best cook, but he did try.

His red hakama and white top blew in the wind while his golden eyes lit up with excitement of the fresh air. As he entered the forest, his mind broke free from civilization and escaped into the demon side of him. He was now a vicious predator, and as such, he must find a supple prey.

Inuyasha rebounded and clawed his way up trees, jumping side to side, left to right, taking an invisible path that was familiar only to him.

This is how he had grown up. Teaching the demon side of himself how to hunt. He had watched the other animals carefully, monitoring and mentally noting every slight movement before they pounced on their prey. The wildcats were fast, and their movements fleeting.

At first, Inuyasha had been stunned at how rapid their bodies' moved in when they decided it was time to kill. After a small while of practicing though, he found that he was just as adept, and even at times, faster than the rest of those basic beasts. Inuyasha could quickly kill smaller deer and others, just at the age of four.

The tactics he used were not quite as graceful as the other, real demons he had seen hunt from his perspective from the treetops. Those movements were almost playful, taunting, and the enemy was immediately drawn into a deadly dance of two. As soon as the steps started their destructive path, there was surely only one victor. Whoever took the lead won that title, and the other, the 'partner' of the dance, was left to die, about to become a meal, terror in their eyes as they drew ragged breaths.

How he admired the full-blood youkai….

How he yearned to learn the steps, the ways of their fighting…

But there was no one to teach him, and so he was left to learn himself, using the animals of the forest. So plain their actions; they no longer held him captivated, nor did he find himself fascinated by these ordinary beasts.

Inuyasha quickly made his way to the middle of the forest where there was a clearing in the middle of all the bushes and tress. Many a time, he had seen an unsuspecting rabbit hop its way into the clearing, only to be quickly snatched up by a clever fox that had been hiding amongst the greenery.

Inuyasha, too, hid behind a large oak that was plenty enough to cover his small, 5 year old body, even if he was larger than a human child equal his age.

Every now and then, he'd poke his nose out, sliding his face from behind the trunk of the tree, anticipating a small animal. His big gold eyes flashed with any sound of movement, and his body tensed, awaiting the sound of paws hitting ground which never seemed to come.

He was getting impatient waiting for something to appear. He was convulsively scratching his claws against the side of a tree. A piece of bark caught in his claws.

"Dang it!" Inuyasha spat quietly. He heard a rustling of leaves, and he cursed his bad fortune for scaring off a possible prey.

After waiting a bit longer, he saw a deer, calmly stroll onto the dirt, munching on the occasional grass that was sparse in this small area. From the looks of it, the deer was a doe, not too old.

His eyes narrowed to slits, and he examined the situation. It seemed simple enough.

It was his mother that he had to think of, and the way she needed feeding oftener than he did that kept him hunting.

They used to buy food from the market, but ever since his mother became sick, she didn't have the energy to walk that far. None of the humans would let him use the money that his mother gave him to buy necessities; they all thought he had stolen it.

With a few swipes to deer's neck using his claws, the doe lay on the ground, eyes wide and glazed over, a fleeting expression that spoke fear of death. Swiftly and business like, Inuyasha grabbed two of the four legs and began to drag it to the edge of the trees. Other demons, more powerful demons, would soon smell blood, and come to steal his mother's meal.

Inuyasha made it to the edge of the forest, and then closer to his home. However, he didn't approach too close to his 'house', for his mother always cried a little when she saw the dead animals. For her, it was better to eat the meat and not know the story behind it.

He fumbled clumsily with the small knife that one of the kinder neighbors had given him and his mother. "In case of hard times," he had said with a gentle smile.

Inuyasha awkwardly worked with the knife, trying to get the skin off the deer's chest so that he could reach the juicy meat below. Inuyasha growled when the knife wouldn't submit to his harsh usage. In the end, he stored the knife back in his robes and resorted to using his claws.

Inuyasha would have just eaten the meat raw, straight from the bone, but he knew that humans, like his mother, couldn't eat it as such, or else they would become very sick. Even if it was undercooked they had problems, those fragile humans. His mother didn't need to be any sicker than she already was.

Inuyasha worked as best as he could with the use of his small claws, ripping off pieces of meat one at a time. He needed to hurry, for it was nearing his mother's meal time, even though she didn't eat much anymore.

Dragging his claws across the grass in a futile attempt to rid them of some of the blood, he picked up the meat he had been able to recover and left the carcass for the scavenging demons of the forest. They always grouped together as ominously dark clouds like vultures, only able to acquire food by the work of others.

His shirt was now bloodstained, and the stench of dead deer was overwhelming to him.

He ran back to the hut and went inside the small, two room space that was their abode.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

Her heartbeat was still regular and constant. Such a strong pattern it was.

His mother was still in bed, looking healthier than usual. The town doctor had refused to see her again.

_Thu-thump._

This whole sickness had begun about a year ago, and how terrible it had been. At first, she began to lose weight. It was inexplicable, and her appetite was just fine; she had eaten her normal amounts.

Then there came a time when she had little to no feeling to eat. Her stomach pained her, and then it hurt her far too much to eat much more than plain rice. Her brown eyes lost their brightness, and her energy waned.

His mother soon realized that this was far out of the ordinary and called upon the village doctor. He was a man who knew many medical treatments and had shown a little spiritual power to heal before. However, he refused to see her, saying that it was her payment to the kami for disgracing herself so by uniting herself with a demon.

The same man who had given them the knife also gave them the little amount of medical advice he knew of. He took her heartbeat, felt her forehead, pressed on her muscles and joints, and found nothing out of the ordinary. This was something he had never seen before. He told her to drink green tea 3-4 times a day.

Then about three months ago, everything doubled in its intensity. New ailments fell upon her. Her skin became papery and yellow, along with the whites of her eyes. She fainted without cause and was often bedridden with fevers, tremors, and itching.

She allowed her robes to become dirty, the house to become dusty. Someone so strong, so dependable; Inuyasha couldn't figure out why this was happening.

There were times when she'd seem to be okay, when she would eat, when she would play with him and take walks. And that always gave him more hope. Those are the times when his heart would lift, and they would talk about the future: where they would go, what they would do.

Today she raised herself from her bed and helped him with the soup.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

She sang softly to him as they stirred the pot over the fire outside. His mother ate a whole bowl of soup, and that comforted him. She smiled and told him of his father, as she always did to soothe him. It warmed Inuyasha's heart with pride when he heard of his great and powerful father.

_Thu-thump._

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha made a slight slurping noise as he sucked a rice noodle into his mouth.

"You know that I love you, right?"

_Thu-thump._

He looked up at his mother, his eyes confused. Slowly, he nodded.

"Nothing can ever change that. I will always be with you, and I will always love you, no matter what."

His mother smiled warmly, and pulled him into an unexpected, but not unwelcome embrace. Inuyasha breathed in her scent. It was sickly, but still uniquely her own. Her black hair swirled around him, and her brown eyes sparkled with the old light that used show every day.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

Her heartbeat was still fluent. It never missed a count.

They went to bed a little after dark, after talking more about what they would do after she got better, after they saved up enough money. His mother could tell that those topics were something that calmed him and raised his spirits.

_Thu-thump._

His mother was the first to fall asleep, as she had been weary from getting out of bed and moving around so much.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

Inuyasha went to bed feeling warm.

_Thu-thump. Thu-thump._

He fell into a restful sleep with a gentle smile on his face on a futon opposite his mother, dreaming of all the wonderful things they always talked about. It was a sweet dream, about his mother becoming better.

He was always listening to her continuous heartbeat.

The next day, Inuyasha awoke to an overcast day, lit only by the small rays that escaped from the clouds that covered the sky. He got up and stretched, pulling a blanket around himself. He liked these days that were cool and cloudy… they felt better than anything else.

His silver hair was a mess that more resembled a mane. Even though there was no mirror to look in, he already had a feeling that his mother was going to tackle him down using a hairbrush.

He yawned and opened his eyes to the room before him. The walls were made of wood, two futons, and a wardrobe-ish thing that held his and his mother's clothes.

Something felt… missing, in an odd way.

He looked around again. Nothing was gone from its place, moved, nor broken.

Inuyasha's heart stopped thudding for the briefest moment as he looked at his mother. Her face was still, pale white, and her body no longer moved up and down from breathing. A peaceful smile rested upon her face, and her eyes closed as if she were in a pleasant dream.

Her heartbeat.

That was what was missing.

The warm, comforting b-bmp of his mother's heart. It wasn't there.

He stood there, paralyzed, golden eye's frozen in time, blood turning cold in his veins. He walked over to his mother's futon, forcing his dirty feet to take steps.

"Haha… haha-ue?" He murmured tentatively. (A/n, Haha-ue is what Inuyasha calls his mother.)

Inuyasha ran his tiny hand over her non-responsive several times.

"Haha-ue…" He whispered.

He moved his claws up to her check where he stroked her face. One of his jagged claws scratched her face, but no blood was drawn.

"Haha-ue!" Desperation was now in his voice, his honey-colored eyes sweeping over her body, which was now pale, and only slightly warm.

"HAHA-UE! Wake up!"

She didn't stir.

Tears began to pour down Inuyasha's face.

"HAHA-UE! HAHA-UE!!"

Inuyasha screamed and whispered her name in turns.

It was a nightmare, a nightmare that was only in his mind. He clutched at her robes, shaking her, begging her to open her eyes.

"Wake up! You can't leave! You're going to get better! The future! We're moving!"

Inuyasha's voice cracked now. His heart, stomach, and lungs were surely going to collapse.

"Your love! Your love! Always with me!"

He screamed and screamed and screamed her name hysterically until all that would escape his lips was a hoarse rasp.

"You can't leave me… you can't… you haven't… just wake up… just one more word… that's all I ask of you… just once… just once… let me hear your voice… sing to me, tell me of father… anything… just… one… word…

"You were getting better… we were going to leave… go live someplace happy… why now… you've left me…"

The tears continued to flow down his face, until he fell into a dreamless sleep next to his mother's lifeless body.

Inuyasha awoke once more, but to nighttime, when not even the moon could be seen because of the cloud-cover. His mother had grown cold next to him, and he put a blanket over her, wanting to keep her warm.

'It had all been a dream.'

He realized he needed to go out to fetch the deer he had gotten yesterday from the storage area they had made. He walked out of the hut in a dreamlike state, wandering to and fro, and stumbled into the forest, but kept walking.

A demon bird's call brought him to his senses after an hour of pacing, and he sprinted back to the hut, readying himself to prepare a meal for his mother.

Inuyasha walked into the hut again, calling to his mother that she needn't worry, that he was back again. He heard no response. He figured that his mother must just be asleep again.

He fixed some soup again, not as nice as his mother would have, he didn't want to disturb her from her resting, the neighbor had said that wasn't something he should do. It was still tasty enough, and would probably suffice. He ladled her some into a lacquered wooden bowl that his mother had bought from the flea market.

The little half-demon grinned as he entered the other room of the hut, anticipating the lovely smile that would grace his mother's beautiful face when she saw that he had fixed her stew all by himself.

She wasn't in her futon.

Inuyasha glanced around.

She must've gone out for some fresh air.

He set the bowl down and walked outside calling, "Haha-ue! Your dinner is ready!"

Inuyasha paused. There had been no reply.

From a small distance, he could hear footsteps running through the grass. His ears twitched. It wasn't his mother's smell, but it was definitely feminine.

He turned to see who it was. It happened to be the sister of the man who had given their family a knife and medical advice.

"Your… your mother's body…" she panted, out of breath.

Inuyasha stood stock still.

"Her body?" He whispered.

The woman took on a confused expression.

"M'goodness, oh, oh, oh…" she murmured. "M'dear, your mother… she passed. At least a half day ago. "

It hadn't been a dream. His body began to shake violently. It hadn't… it wasn't a dream… it was…

Real.

His body shook with convulsions, his mind went blank, and the youkai blood in him took over.

Inuyasha could smell smoke.

Smoke… and his mother's scent, combining and swirling in a toxic scent around him.

His eyes turned paper-white, pupils and irises disappearing all together, and then to a blood red. His small body began to tremor with power two times his size. Fangs elongated, claws sharpened, and a growl was emitted from the back of his throat.

The woman's eyes widened as she let out an ear-piercing scream. The scream rang throughout his mind, waking up a dormant part of him he had never known.

It was not only the death of his mother, but also the death of his innocence.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kagome returned to consciousness with an abrupt start. Her entire body felt so very cold, and she shivered in a twitchy manner against the wall her body was slumped. Hadn't they just been in warm summertime? Just the other day, Sango and she had lain on green grass, basking in the sun's glorious heat. She wished she had her comfortable, wool-lined gym sweats from her school.

Kagome smiled slightly as the thought of the pants triggered memories from years past. Memories of playing around with her friends in gym class, talking about boys while pigging out on junk food. Those had been her brace-clad 13 and 14 years. Turning 15, well, that had changed everything.

She stirred again, wanting to move away from the hard wood that was killing her back and numbing her backside, but found that her body wouldn't respond properly. She opened her mouth to call Inuyasha's name, even just murmur it, but found her voice wouldn't work.

Attempting to open her eyes, she found that all she saw was blackness. Kagome felt around her eyes for a blindfold. There was one, but after playing with the knots for a moment, the black material loosened and fell into her hands.

'Satin, or perhaps silk.' Kagome thought after rubbing it between two fingers. It seemed… expensive.

Her big brown eyes squinted against the suddenness of seeing light again. Her sight blurred, then focused. Kagome blinked several times more, just to make sure her vision wasn't playing tricks on her.

She was in… her house? Her room?

**Cliffie! Sorry about this guys. Please review! Hope you thought it was nice. Next chapter coming soon!  
**

**RisingXXAngel **


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